


Light in a Land Without Sun

by ziraseal



Series: Mara's Influence [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: F/F, Post-Rivenspire Arc, Pre-Relationship, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:42:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28588194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ziraseal/pseuds/ziraseal
Summary: Vampirism. A curse befouling one’s soul, one’s social standing, one’s morals. At least they have that in common.
Relationships: Heloise Menoit/Janeve Tamrith
Series: Mara's Influence [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095476
Kudos: 4





	Light in a Land Without Sun

She first bumps into the Captain outside the castle grounds. Which is strange— they are vampires, after all, they can see in the darkness. Heloise is not really used to combat, and even though Rivenspire is a land of danger and she should be so used to it after living here her whole life, she still gets startled.

The Captain’s armor lets out a jangle of metal, the other woman clearly startled as well. As soon as they recognize each other, their guards go down so slightly. They know each other, Shornhelm isn’t really that big of a city, after all, and most people who live there have served in the guard or aided the soldiers in one way or another. Especially after Ranser’s War, which decimated the local armies and created a plethora of job openings. Heloise has met Janeve in the formal instances of training camps and formal ceremonies, but she doesn’t really know her. Janeve is a member of House Tamrith, though from what Heloise understands, a reluctant member. She prefers her actions to speak for her, rather than her title. And, of course, the Captain’s actions are always honorable.

Heloise is just a healer. No real actions to speak of. Poultices for wolf bites and stitches for sword wounds. Someone has to do it.

That being said, there is one standing they’ve been reduced to that marks them as equals. The most fortunate scenario for a victim of the Montclair Rebellion, of course, but not an ideal position by any means. Vampirism. A curse befouling one’s soul, one’s social standing, one’s morals. At least they have that in common. 

“Um… hi there.”

The Captain gives her a formal salute, but falters halfway through. She’s not really a captain anymore, is she? Well, it doesn’t matter to Heloise, really.

“Miss Menoit. I was not expecting to see you out here at this time of the night. Though I suppose it’s not unusual for a… well… you know.”

“Yes, I would assume the same of yourself, Captain. Yes?”

Janeve’s eyes widen in fear. Heloise has had a few more days to adjust, but it’s not that much of an improvement. They’re both new bloods, constantly hungry and dangerous. The saving grace that allows them some small freedoms by Madame Daro is that there are no people out here for her to hurt. Crestshade will be rebuilt someday, but until then it is quite literally a ghost town, and merchants won’t stray this far east for some time. Heloise doesn’t have to worry about hurting people.

The guilt of what happened at Hinault Farm _burns_ into her mind.

“I was hoping to perhaps find a deer or some such to… well… to practice? By Arkay, this is so embarrassing, is it not?”

The Dunmer blood donor, Kallin, can only sustain so many vampires at once. Though the population of House Ravenwatch lost one soul, it has now gained two more in the form of Janeve and Heloise, and it isn’t healthy for a person to lose so much blood so quickly. Kallin’s reward for his donation, a stipend, three meals a day, and a roof over his head, is incentive enough to find a few wary volunteers who have considered Gwendis’s request. But after everything that’s happened, people aren’t rushing to the castle to donate to the same type of creatures that nearly destroyed the kingdom.

The hero had offered blood, the nice woman who has been aiding King Emeric. The one that spared the lives of both the healer and the Captain. But Adusa-Daro warned against it, that they were too young and might make a mistake and hurt such a precious resource to the Daggerfall Covenant. _"We can always practice on bandits. And assassins. And cultists,”_ Gwendis had said. Perhaps she’d meant to be cheeky, but in her depression over the loss of her mentor, it came out rather threatening.

“A deer, then?” Heloise asked.

She wasn’t ready to try killing a person for blood. That wasn’t who she was, despite what had happened at the farm.

Captain Janeve nervously fiddles with her armor, “I suppose. I mean… it won’t work as well as a human, from what I understand, but I don’t think I’m ready to…”

“I know… I’m not either.”

“Do you… do you want to look together?”

Gods, they must both look so terrified, like lost children. They aren’t even that far outside the castle, and Gwendis and Adusa have both given them permission to wander the lands belonging to Ravenwatch. Heloise almost wonders if it’s a test. Which one of them will be the first to lose their mind and chase down the nearest human? Well, that’s not a contest. Heloise has slaughtered a family. The Captain did no such thing, immediately joining with the Ravenwatch the second she was turned. If anything, Janeve should be allowed back into Shornhelm the second she can prove that she won’t be a threat to mortal civilians. If anything, Heloise ought to be locked up in the Castle, feeding only from Kallin and keeping out of trouble.

“It’s all so weird,” the Tamrith soldier says, beginning to walk down a dirt path that winds through the crags. “All of my senses are heightened… I feel stronger… more agile… I suppose there are reasons people would become a vampire, but it’s such a profanity to Arkay’s holiness. I’m so conflicted.”

“I suppose so. I haven’t really noticed much. But I was never much for athletics.”

“Yes. You are a healer?”

“Was.”

Janeve looks at her as they pass a fallen tree, covered in giant spider silk. The things make their nests out here left and right, but given that they tend to stay in their caves, they’re competition more than danger.

“It’s not like you lost your ability to use magic or make potions.”

“Well, no, but I don’t think I should go near open wounds and the smell of blood until I can get myself under control. But… I have been reading a lot of the Count’s literature. There are clans of vampires up north, in Skyrim, that know spells that can heal the undead. I can try and learn some to at least heal you and the others when they go out.”

“Oh. Well… I suppose that would be useful. Though, it is a form of blasphemy to the Light.”

Heloise sits down on a log and looks out over the cliffside. There are some small fields here and there, but otherwise western Rivenspire is just miles and miles of rocky crevasses and caves. She’ll have to get used to the view. Where there is grass and rolling hills and farms, there’s also sunshine. Adusa has explained that the sun doesn’t outright destroy their bodies in a single day, but it can and will weaken them over time. Limited exposure and only if necessary.

It’s a shame, really. The sunrises out by Fell’s Run are really something worth getting up early for.

“I think you’re going to have to get used to not worshipping the Light.”

Janeve looks angry for a second, then nods, “Even if Arkay doesn’t forsake me, my sister certainly does.”

“I’m sorry.”

Despite the objections of Countess Tamrith and her supporters, and despite the punishment he'd given his son, Baron Dorell was crowned King. He’s a typical soldier, caring for glory and practicality above emotions and ideals. But he’s willing to let House Ravenwatch be, provided they lie low for a few years and only intervene in matters regarding vampirism. The Vestige and High King Emeric had both agreed that Countess Tamrith would allow her faith to misguide her into purging Rivenspire of all undead, bad or benevolent. Of course, as the King now ruled from Shornhelm, the houses would transition power of Northpoint, and Eselde would replace the Baron's son as ruler. 

“You know, it’s for the best that she was not crowned Queen. This way she can see me, in private, and I can convince her that I’m still her sister. It will take a few years, but I suppose I have all the time in the world.”

Heloise understands, somewhat. She’d been luckier. She still had someone mortal who cared about her and wanted to see her, despite her condition. Lieutenant Fairfax had visited the castle at least once and had promised that he would write, insisting that he didn’t care that she was a vampire. That they could still be friends. It warmed a heart that was slowly growing cold. 

But to everyone else, everyone she’d grown up with and played with and healed and shared bread with, Heloise Menoit had died amidst the fires of Hinault Farm.

Janeve sighs, “This is our life. If you can even call it that. It is just an existence of undeath until someday, some hero kills us to save the world? To protect their loved ones?”

“I don’t think it’s that dismal,” the healer says, with a shake of her head. “When we’re a little more experienced... and Adusa and Gwendis think we can be in public responsibly… we’ll go out and help other people like us, or put them down if they’re dangerous. It will be a redemption, of sorts. We’re not the vampires that worship Lamae Bal and scorn the gods. We will not be the vampires that will try and take over the world or destroy the sun. We will not be the vampires that make pacts with demons and dremora. We will just be.”

Strikingly bright red eyes bore into her own, sad but inquisitive.

“You really think that?”

Heloise isn’t sure what overcomes her, but she gently takes the Captain’s cold, pale hand into her own. A thumb absentmindedly strokes her knuckles and the action is so terribly human that, for a moment, she feels like she could dance in the sunlight once more.

“We’re in this together,” she insists, giving the soldiers hands a squeeze.

The Captain of House Tamrith, a woman of honor and hope, gifts her with a grin. Perfectly sharp fangs poke through and Heloise finds the sight to be extraordinary.

“I’d like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> we love a good rare pairing


End file.
